what interviews? Greta van Sh*tstorm displaying the latest post-face-tightened fellatio techniques, or Katie Couric showing off her bizarrely crooked mouth and wicked underbite? Perhaps some of those network toolbags' practiced baritone booming, or Larry King's burbling shifting-in-the-seat constipation? Or maybe the faux-pugilism of the Hannity and Colmes "Odd Couple" program (which one's Felix?)?

I used to enjoy watching Bob Dole being interviewed as a guest of David Brinkley's in the early 90's, although Cokie Roberts and that awfully-toupee'd Sam Donaldson were pretty difficult to bear. I carry no truck with Tim Russert, though; he always let way too many evasive answers go by unchallenged (but don't they all).

Who's it gonna be tonight? Where can we tune to see the same 4 candidates deliver their same programmatic talking points? Where may I go to find out the latest insubstantial gibberish about how McCain looked "stiff" or Obama said "uh, uhh, ummm..." too many times?

Simon -- I'm not at all surprised by Althouse voting for Obama. I'd criticize it for being superficial but then, it's a sort of hubris to suggest that depth would matter here. We've nominated two guys with no executive experience, and who both seem to have pissed off a large portion of their respective parties.

It's a little disheartening to see that she's voting because she thinks Obama will do better, when he's quite clearly in the camp of people who actively worked to cause the crisis in the first place.

But there's no guarantee McCain wouldn't be worse--and working across the aisle, as she says, is really not particularly commendable. You have to wonder, for example, whether people voting for McCain to keep the entire government from going to the Dems would actually have succeeded if McCain does win.

I mean, really, it's only the hope that Palin whispering in his ear will bring him around.

And what I fear is that, either candidate, having achieved the highest office in the word, will do whatever he damn well pleases.

blake said... "I'm not at all surprised by Althouse voting for Obama."

I do not read her to have said that she is. I had thought she had indicated that serious readers know that she is very likely to, and earlier today made that even more explicit, but I don't read her to have made up her mind. I do not yet know what it would take to dissuade her - what she needs to hear to push her from Obama (for example, the point about prosecution of Bush administration officials has presumably gone out of the window) or pull her towards McCain - but I hope we find out and I hope that we have the opportunity to try to make that case to her.

In the vernacular: It ain't over yet. I share your view that the posture as things stand is "disheartening," though.

Well, before she said she was likely to vote for Obama, and now she's saying it's almost inevitable.

What's more, her decision seems to be based on an impressionistic collection of moments. She's voting for Obama because he seems like the better man for the job.

So it's not based on--and in fact must necessarily reject--his anti-American background, the fact that he hasn't really gotten anything done to date other than write two biographies, and the fact that if you were to pick a person out of the four who is most responsible for the current crisis, you'd pick ACORN lawyer, donor and beneficiary Obama (and next you'd pick Credit Card pimp Biden).

I mean, if you didn't know all this stuff, that's one thing. If you didn't know his close relationship with ACORN and the fact that ACORN is subverting the democratic process and destroying the economy, sure, he seems mild enough.

But she does know this. And she's voting for him anyway because, in essence, she thinks he'll be more effective.

In other words, there is no plausible data point that's going to change that impression.

And, frankly, no one can say whether Obama's Presidency would be ultimately good or bad. The limits of data and logic are not just that people use bad logic (they do, especially here), but that we never have all the data.

OT, but there's a huge widfire burning here near Oceanside. The fire apparently started on Camp Pendleton, and the USMC has been battling it all evening. It doesn't appear to be threatening any homes or lives right now, but it is generating a huge amount of smoke for those downwind. I got a good view from atop a local hill. There appear actually appear be multiple fires.

Just saw Palin's interview tonight with Greta. It was awful. She didn't answer about half of Greta's question (she responded with Obama's tax plan with the question "what reforms will you/McCain initiate?"). Greta didn't follow-up to any of her non-answers.

I was a big Palin supporter originally, but she's blowing it even with this softball interview.

Just watched Michelle Obama on Larry King. One reason I know she did spectacularly well is because I find him so annoying I usually can't make it through more than a few minutes. She refused several invitations to agree with King that McCain & co. are a bunch of scoundrels. She kept on track, was soothing and steady. But at the end she referred to Obama's campaign workers as "the troops". Clunk.

Maybe none of this means much. Maybe a front-running campaign like Obama's that is focused solely on victory doesn't have the time to do the mundane things like print up schedules or attend to the needs of reporters.

Oh actually, we might have two October surprises...wow, ACORN investigated in 10 States for election fraud, and RICO charges might be leveled??

Our source in federal courts said, “Any crime that involves more than two people and is carried out across state lines qualifies as a corrupt organization. The fact that those “Goodwill” donations were made in Texas and received at Obama headquarters in Chicago or Washington means it qualifies for RICO.”

This is the breaking news over at a Hillary Clinton blog, so treat with caution.

To those like me who didn't know, RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act, a federal law. The same federal prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, as in the Rezko case is leading the FBI team investigation. I wonder if Tony sang about this, somehow?

Why McCain was shaking, as if holding back his rage at Obama, why he called him "THAT ONE" as if he were pointing to a soiled piece of refuse, and why, possibly an insider in the know just traded $140,000 worth of Obama Intrade stock a few hours ago, and put the same amount on McCain.

If this is true, this has the potential to be one of the biggest stories ever.

Now...imagine the conversation between Obama and Ayers when they first meet and are making small talk....

"So, Bill, do you and your wife have children?""Why, yes, we do. They're Zayd Osceola, Malik Cochise, and Chesa Boudin.""Well, gosh, Bill. Those are interesting names to give children. Are you Muslim?""No. We named our eldest after Zayd, the Black Panther who was assassinated by the pigs in Jersey a few years ago.""Oh, that's nice. So you have two boys and a girl?""Actually, we're raising Chesa for her mother.""Oh, I'm sorry to hear it. Is she ill?""No. She's one of our oldest and dearest friends. Poor thing's in prison. She was the getaway driver in an armored car robbery. Some pigs got killed. Like us, she's a communist revolutionary. I just wish I'd been able to live in Russia the way she did in 1965. Lucky for her she left Chesa at the babysitters before she did the job.""Oh, that's nice. Let's you and me work together for four years distributing $100 million to help school children.""Ok."

Anyway, Zayd is all grown up now. He's a playwright. He wrote 'Haymarket.' That was about a terrorist bombing in Chicago. He's also the author of 'Magic Forest Farm" about life on a collective farm. He recently staged a production of his new work 'Sick.'

--

Also, here is Ayers talking to reporter in a Toronto Starbucks in 2003 and referring to the irony of his presence there: "Yes, the Evil Empire," Ayers quips. "As I once said to our kids: Get me into the socialist economy and we'll go there. But for now, you could buy Starbucks or you could get Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and that also comes from some exploited motherf----r somewhere.....

Beth, I prefer a cranky old man to a seemingly cool headed one as president. At least the former's reactions seem real. He wouldn't be the first President with a bad temper. Andrew Jackson's fits are well recorded. Lincoln had his rages, and Teddy Roosevelt and even FDR. This whole idea that he could fly into a rage and push the red button without thinking is poppycock. We all know it takes a lot of people to bring the infamous briefcase to the Oval Office. This is not to mention the fact that there will be a whole group of advisers, cabinet members, legislators, etc, preventing him from doing it.

I'm not afraid of him flying off the handle and pressing a red button. That's just a sad reach, my friend.

I don't want an erratic, rude, entitled brat in office. His demeanor in the debate wasn't some noble expression of outrage, as VB stretches to cast it, it was a pathetic and downright funny whine of frustration. He's flailing.

That's not leadership. It's the expression of a man shocked and offended that once again, his personal ambition might be thwarted. And though there's something funny about it as he gets increasingly upset, it's also ugly. I don't vote for ugly, and brattish.

Talk about entitlement, Obama (PBUH) has come to believe that heis beyond criticism, scrutiny and questioning. This is due in no small part to the blind adoration of most of his followers, but it is also an inherent trait of his personality. It is indeed brattish. If one dares criticize him, his policies or past associations, one is a racist bigoted idiot, and we should have our free speech taken away. And don't tell me that his whole "pre-emptive" use of the race card is not ugly and bratish either.

And, yes, we should also look at Michelle Obama's character. She's notoriously well known for her rage, and she will be very close to him. One can see her influence on him. Doesn't that worry you?

And what about the rage of his entitled spoiled bored-with-their-lives "i-have-it-too-easy" bulk of his supporters? There is unjustified rage to fill an ocean there. Doesn't that scare you either?

I think the "cool" Obama meme is a fantasy. When challenged in the debates, he often appears angry to me. I think he is just accustomed to getting a free pass by his worshippers. After all, he is protected by a media that that calls anyone opposing him ‘mean’ and ‘dismissive‘. It’s almost like they play the role of Barry’s overly protective mother. I get tired of the “No one shall challenge the chosen one” shtick.

And, Beth, in light of previous comments made by you, I am not saying you cannot have your opinion, or post it here. Please understand that I am not like that. I just have my own opinions that do not coincide with yours, and I think we should all have our own. No one is attacking you, or intimidating you. We are all discussing the issues that were brought up. I hope you see that.

While initially excited about the New Party association, I shortly remembered that the Obama voter is already voting himself bread and circuses. A formal label of socialist will make little difference.

By the way, China is the 21st century. We should all be learning Mandarin. Didn't you watch Firefly?

LOL, thank you for the sage advice PogoПОССУМ. I will be going underground soon after the election in order to avoid internment in one of Barry's reeducation camps. These will be opened as soon as he establishes the fairness doctrine for blogs (look out Althouse).

Дорогой товарич ПОССУМ,да, I know full well I may already be on their list (although, knowing some of them , I doubt they have had the motivation to even write one up). I will not go down without a fight! Hehehe...

Christy said... While initially excited about the New Party association, I shortly remembered that the Obama voter is already voting himself bread and circuses. A formal label of socialist will make little difference.

By the way, China is the 21st century. We should all be learning Mandarin. Didn't you watch Firefly?

9:01 AM

I was thinking the same. It will not make a difference, maybe because it is not the crazy A.N.S.W.E.R. group. And most of his supporters crave some sort of socialism anyway. They will point to the "Democratic" label, and then point to Europe where there are socialist parties in power. But g-d forbid that anyone has any past or present association to a libertarian party of any sort.

original george - people all over Chicago involved in public life worked with Ayers. Why wouldn't Obama? I've worked on boards and committees with people who don't think like me, even some people I vehemently dislike. The whole guilt by association thing you all keep flogging is over the top. And it doesn't seem to be having much effect on people who aren't rabidly partisan. Ayers isn't an Obama adviser. He's not his spiritual father, not his secret puppet master.